In a continuing effort to improve the quality of shipping fruits, we, the inventors, typically hybridize a large number of peach, nectarine, plum, apricot, and cherry seedlings each year. We also grow a lesser number of open pollinated seeds of each of these fruits. The present invention relates to a new and distinct variety of interspecific tree which has been denominated varietally as ‘Blackred XX’.
During a typical blooming season we isolate as seed parents both individual and groups of different plum trees by covering them with screen houses. A hive of bees is placed inside each such house, and bouquets to provide pollen from different plum, apricot, and interspecific hybrid trees are placed in buckets near the trees approximately every two days for the duration of the bloom. During 2007 one such house containing ‘September Yummy’ (U.S. Plant Pat. No. 14,220) plum tree was crossed by us in this manner. To pollinate this plum, we selected bouquets from several sources of apricot and interspecific trees without keeping specific written details. Upon reaching maturity the fruit from this plum tree was harvested and the seeds were removed, cracked, stratified and germinated as a group with the label “H12”. They were grown as seedlings on their own root in our greenhouse and upon reaching dormancy transplanted to a cultivated area of our experimental orchard located near Le Grand, Calif. in Merced County (San Joaquin Valley). During the summer of 2010 the claimed variety was selected by us as a single plant from the group of seedlings described above. Subsequent to origination of the present variety of interspecific tree, we asexually reproduced it by budding and grafting in the experimental orchard described above, and such reproduction of plant and fruit characteristics were true to the original plant in all respects. The reproduction of the variety included the use of ‘Nemaguard’ (unpatented) rootstock upon which the present variety was compatible and true to type.
The present variety is similar to its seed parent, ‘September Yummy’ plum (U.S. Plant Pat. No. 14,220), by being self-unfruitful, by blooming in the mid season, and by producing fruit that is firm and juicy, but is distinguished therefrom by producing fruit that is much sweeter in flavor, that is black instead of red in skin color, and that matures about thirty days later.
The present variety is most similar to ‘Blackred XII’ (U.S. Plant Pat. No. 20,892) interspecific tree, by being self-unfruitful, by being much less vigorous, and by producing fruit that is full black in skin color, nearly globose in shape, firm in texture, juicy and very sweet, but is distinguished therefrom by being less vigorous, by blooming about four days earlier and by producing fruit that is full orange in flesh color instead of red, that is smaller in size, and that matures about two weeks later.